Diorama illustrating childbirth in the 1860s, England, made in 1979

A middle class woman is giving birth in this diorama showing childbirth in 1860s England. While her worried mother looks on, at the foot of the bed, a maid brings hot water and a physician takes her pulse. A nurse offers the woman anaesthetic through an Ellis-type inhaler. Invented by Robert Ellis (1822-85) in 1866, the inhaler combined chloroform, ether and alcohol. This mixture was thought to be safer than chloroform on its own.
During this period, only wealthy families would have been able to afford the services of a nurse and a physician with anaesthetics.